Bring you home
by WhenToothlessWrites
Summary: Along with the Berserker siblings, a tense atmosphere seems to settle down on Dragon's Edge between Astrid and Dagur. As the two warriors' bickering reaches its peak, so does both Hiccup's and Heather's patience. Sick of being pulled and dragged from one side to another, the two riders storm off. Things get serious when neither return.
1. Chapter 1

Heyyoo, so *coughs* new story yeh?

I'm well aware of my difficulties to keep up with my other works but this idea just got into my head and I'll work to update both my "long" stories and requests for one-shots. The trick is to work on whatever I feel most inclined to at night.

This will most likely be interrupted for a few weeks (mostly three) as my next period of evaluations is right on the horizon (*sigh* oh boy) but I'll give my best until then.

Without further ado, and a horrible migraine: Enjoy people!

PS: This story takes place after Blindsided before any of the following episodes. This way, it might change a biiit of canon and even characters so that it works. I'm not saying something like this would happen in the series of Rtte, but this is my idea. XD

...

"He called my axe a toothpick!" Astrid roared, teeth gritted and ready to bite anyone. She waved her carefully sharpened axe dangerously about.

"She said my babies looked like I was having an allergy attack!" Dagur growled, flexing his arms to make his muscles look bigger.

"He said he fought better!"

"She said I was crazy!" Dagur cracked his neck, his eyebrows scrunching up and down as a small, weak clacking escaped his throat, "You know I'm out with that, Brother!"

Hiccup passed one of his hands over his face, letting it stay there, index finger and thumb holding the beginning of his nose cane in between them. He shook his head and sighed in exhaustion. "Guys, it's been the twelve'th time in one week, what do you want me to do?"

"Something about him, obviously!" Astrid jumped in, rushing to his eye sight while waving her arms about, "He called my dragon lame, Hiccup! Stormfly! Lame! And he's been messing in everything I do!"

Dagur, too, seemed to find that moving closer to Hiccup might just help his side, "And she keeps swinging her blondie head on and about on how I'm not good enough for my dragon, that I let Shattermaster down!" He stopped for a moment in his ranting, narrowing his eyes and pouting like a small child as he glared at the shieldmaden, "That's low..." Then, he turned back to Hiccup, who was honestly feeling rather uncomfortable with the distance, more lack of, between them, "Everywhere I go, she goes!"

"Everywhere I go, he goes!" Astrid complained.

"Eerghh..." Hiccup groaned, his hands up in front of his body in an uncomfortable way. He stepped backwards until he was side by side with Heather, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs some ways in their diagonal, "That's really something I can't control guys!" He defended.

"Hiccup's right, you know..." Fishlegs tried, slapping his mouth shut as, the moment he spoke, two pairs of blue and pale-green eyes had thrown daggers his way.

"Hiccup... aaand Fishlegs are right." Heather declared, crossing her arms. She, too, was sick of this. "It's up to you guys to solve your quarrels, you just can't be coming up to Hiccup in hopes that he'll get either one of you out of the Edge. There are far mor important things to worry about, and you've been driving everyone mad!"

Both the blonde and the red-haired seemed to freeze for a moment, their eyes fixated on said boy. Hiccup rubbed his temple, a headache starting to consume him. He wondered how, yes, even at his age, he hadn't already grown a fully white-hair.

Then, he realised where the two were looking at, expectantly. "Couldn't have said better." He agreed.

"But Hiccup! I'm your brother!" Dagur tried, more to his right.

"No you're not!" Astrid raged, her balled fists white in frustation, "And you don't even live here! You're just here because Berserker Island's destroyed!"

"And we've made a pause in searching for our father too, by the way..." Hiccup heard Heather mutter next to him.

Yes, that was true. The two siblings had been forced to that as the leaders responsible for the Berserkers. Only now, as the rebuilding was starting and there weren't many places to spend the night for the Berserkers, the two had decided that they'd leave whatever places there were for the villagers and soldiers, opting to stay at Dragon's Edge and hopefully help fight the Dragon Hunters in the mean time.

At first, it had been great. He recalled Astrid happily receiving Heather, the two chatting and smiling freely. Fishlegs had been thrilled to have her back. Snotlout, of course, had been pretty content with the prospecth of spending more time flexing his muscles and his dragon's with Heather there to watch. Dagur seemed delirious as he saw Hiccup, not that the boy could ever really understand why. The twins were in over their heads with the amount of destruction they could learn from a Berserker, especially given Dagur's historical.

All in all, the past week had started out just right and Hiccup himself couldn't have been happier. He and Astrid had been growing steadier and he too might just have been in over his head on how she seriously hung with him. In the end, their love was mutual and Hiccup couldn't express his feelings for the girl. Only then, as routines started taking definive places, hers and Dagur's quarreling had begun. They went to the same places to throw axes, train and do whatever fighters like them did. They both flew at the same time and used the arena at the same time. Astrid was serious as they trained, Dagur... not so much, for as much as he insisted on having overcome his derangedness, Hiccup could always see the mad glint in the Berserker Chief's eyes.

And most of all, he had understood, and Heather seemingly too, they both wanted to be with both Hiccup and Heather, alone, at the same time.

Astrid wanted to spend time with him, enjoying their secret, he wasn't that sure why though, relationship, relaxing and taking in all the time of the world that fit in the few couple of minutes they could take from preparing for the final mission they'd started to plan.

Dagur wanted to spend time with Heather. He seemed to feel somewhat replaced by the blonde girl, as if his sister prefered Astrid to him, Hiccup understood. When Dagur and Astrid both felt like training or simply being with the black-haired girl, it was like two Vikings pulling the same rope, each on an end, pulling in opposite ways.

Oh, how he could relate.

Because Dagur wanted to spend time with his little brother, Hiccup. And Astrid wanted to be with her boyfriend as well.

He was done with being pulled and hussled from side to side, having more than sharing-incompabilities to work on and solve. When the time to face Viggo and the Hunters came, they wouldn't be triumphing over the enemy with another Astrid-Dagur heated, literally meatallic argument on how "Dagur wasn't supposed to be there too, they were talking alone." nor how "Astrid was the one who was everywhere, everytime".

A few years back he couldn't even dream of someone wanting to be with him. Now... now he couldn't stop dreaming of someone NOT wanting to be with him.

Oh gods they were in on it again... Right at his ears, waving, shaking him then Heather. He could no longer hear!

"ENOUGH!"

The whole stables fell in a deep, heavy silence. Heather looked at the spot next to her, mouth agape and eyes wide for a moment, until, she too, blinking away the shock, nodded and stood scowling next to Hiccup. She could just spot four heads away being angled to the side, their eyes round.

In front of them, both the girl and the man had stopped dead in their tracks, frozen. They very slightly, subconsciously gulped.

"THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR!" Hiccup declared, his hands not in fists but in a rigid, claw-like way. He threw them to the sky, "I've had enough of listening to you two! Hiccup, Astrid did this!" He impersonated, the voices he made thin and irritating, "Hiccup, Dagur did that!"

He stuffed one hand in his the mop of auburn hair, pulling at it. "I don't think I've ever had this huge rush to go stuff my head in a barrel of water 'till you guys go quiet! Seriously expected more, not even the twins have been this bad!"

"But he-" Astrid started, her hand pointing in Dagur's way.

"But he nothing, Astrid. Expected more of you, of you two! With all we have in our hands right now you really think I have time to come Thor-knows how many times a day separate you two from straight out going on a full-out brawl? This is ridiculous!"

"Wow, are you seeing this? Is Hiccup really scolding at Astrid...?" Snotlout mumbled to Fishlegs in the background, his voice hushed. He didn't want them all to fall on top of the Snotman of course.

"It depends on the point of view." Tuffnut replied, "Because seriously, ever since he gave that shout I can't stop thinking the chief's coming to kick my butt out of Berk after changing all the water in the well for blue ink." The three teens by his side looked at him in sync. Ruffnut seemed pretty proud of her brother, while Fishlegs and Snotlout seemed to have an ich in their eyes.

"You did whaaat?" Snotlout whispered.

"But Hiccup, she's so impossible to stand!" Dagur complained, his eyebrows at first high in that remnant madness, "You're the boss here! Put her in her line!"

"I am NOT a damsel you can boss around Daggy!" Astrid roared, the very tip of her axe flying to the skin of Dagur's throat, "Got it? You, on the other hand, seem to be lacking some manners, maybe Hiccup should do something about you, huh?"

"Astrid's right Dagur..." The boy hissed.

"Thank yo-"

"But she's also wrong." He finished, "I'm not going to put anyone in their line. You know why?! Because you're both mature enough to behave and stop all this nonsense I have no idea why it's happening, really! Because I'm sick of it! I'm sick of this headache you two have been giving me lately! I'm sick that what one does, the other complains about it."

"Hiccup! Astrid breathed! Hiccup! Dagur exhaled!" He grunted in exasperation.

"It's not like that!" They complained. "Heyy!"

"Oh really?" Heather deadpanned. "Because right now you're literally inches away from cutting each other's heads off."

"Come on, sis! I'm your brother!"

"And I'm her best friend!"

"You can't be both their best friends!"

"You-"

"QUIET YOU TWO!" Hiccup exploded again, from behind them, Tuffnut whimpered. Hiccup now brought both his hands to his hair, pulling handful of strands, "I can't hear you anymore! It's like I'm dealing with little children all of a sudden! This is so unlike you, Astrid! I thought you were more controlled, Dagur! It's not my fault you both are so alike in many things and just can't see that! But I- I just can't cope with all the problems we have, much more like this!"

He turned around, whistling for Toothless.

"Where are you going?!" They shouted.

"To clear my head..." He sighed, his shoulders sagging, "There's just too much inside." Then, he straightened his spine, "And I expect you two to have it talked out by the time I'm back... I can't handle anymore of this."

The stables stood quiet as they watched him go, the black sillouette in the air becoming continuously smaller, progressively vanishing in the middle of the dark, heavy clouds.

Astrid let her hand fly to her upper arm, somewhat guilty deep down even if everything was still too hot for her to admit anything. As she sadly eyed the dot outside, Dagur rushed for Heather, who too eyed the empty spot beside her.

"Sis, wou-" He grabbed her upper arm under her shoulder blades but was instantly cut off as the girl looked at him, fuming. Her lips were tight in a frown, cheeks slightly puffed out, eyebrows hard. She briskly pulled her arm out of his grip, grunting. "Don't."

Heather shook her head, eyeing the two. Then, she too, turned around, heading outside. The riders watched in silence as Windshear took off, flying in the same direction the Night Fury had gone.

 **...**

 **Uhhhh, someone's having a bad day now isn't it?**

 **It would be a shame if someone just *smiles knowingly* made it worse, right? Hehe...**

 **On a different note though, I hope you've all enjoyed this small chapter. It doesn't say much, but later, of course and as always, it will. I just have been having this big craving for HiccupxHeather "sibling" bonding and AstridxDagur team work, so this story came up, and now I have to write it or else it will be bugging me for even more days. Of course, for this idea to work, Astrid and Dagur have to clash, so a bit of feelings can be added later*smiles innocently* and so I had to play with these explosive sides of theirs.**

 **Anyway, I'll do my best to work fast, even though evaluations are right around the corner *sweats* oh boy... well...**

 **Until then, buddies! XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heyoo, here we goo!**

 **Hello my peeps, here's chapter 2 at last. I definetly wasn't planning on taking three weeks to update since I'm so hyped for this story and already have half of it planned out. But this past weeks I had 1 exam, before that 3 exams and the other 2, please have mercy oof...**

 **Anyway, they're over now and with great results, my job is done there. Also break is here, so you already know what that means ;) updating more often for two weeks.**

 **I'm so grateful for all your kind words everybody, THANK YOU SWEETIES! My heart has been warmed up, feels like spring came earlier. Now, to your reviews!**

 **Kethereal: Uh oh. That's just the reaction. Uh oh. XD It's going down a poor path for our poor babies, that's all I can say ;) Thank you!**

 **Guest: I think I died a bit too there lol**

 **RainDragon28: Ohhh, you are? Wow, I'm so glad you are! Yay! Hope it keeps going that way. Sorry for the wait and thank you!**

 **etglorianna96: Dunnot fret. I've updated :)**

 **Katurdi: OHHH, INTERESTING? *explicitly blinks none-stop at you* I can't really say... ((((yes, yes, yesss)))) It is about to get far more interesting! Hehe... ;) *wink wink* That's what I live for, to h- make stories interesting! That makes me so happy! Thank youuuu! Read on, I think it just got a bit more fantastic for you *blinks both eyes***

 **AnaWinchester-Universe67: Eek, that honestly is all I want! Hoping it you keep liking it for far more!**

 **Maerk (guest): Ohhh, i see... xD I'm sorry if it won't go that way. I don't really ship them that way, more like Hiccstrid. Still, in a way, they really do fit well, and I totally respect that ship. This one will be more of a sibling bonding, though you're free to twist it in you own way *grins* They don't need blood to be siblings, right! Gimme HiccupxHeather bonding! (I know the show is over... :( )Oh, Heather sure has her head on her shoulders, but for how long? They both are crafty and have their brains, but will that be enough? Thank you for reviewing!**

 **I believe that's all, if I missed you out or wrote your username incorrectly please tell me and I will fix it!**

 **On with it! XD**

...

Hiccup heavily cursed under his breath, throwing a glare at the clouds that hung above them. Toothless flew, not too high, to avoid any lightning in case the approaching storm started out with no warning, nor too low, so the continuously growing waves wouldn't swallow them whole.

He frowned, the gears in his head louder than the raging wind. He couldn't stop thinking… …Had he been too tough with Astrid and Dagur?

Someone had to call the two back to reason, right? _He_ had to do it. _He_ was in charge. It was _his_ responsibility, even Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins were starting to get annoyed by the whole deal. Still, and he sometimes hated himself for this part of him, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd somehow hurt them with his sudden outburst. Dagur… wasn't that bad, he had feelings sure, even if they were clouded by all his insanity, but most of the time not even he knew what he was feeling. But he was his 'brother' and Hiccup had silently forgiven the Berserker from having tried to kill his friends and him hundreds of time in the past, which meant he was now part of the team and as a friend, he felt somewhat bad for having possibly been too harsh.

Astrid? Oooh… Astrid. Astrid was a whole other deal. He had never yelled, scolded at Astrid. He had never raised his voice to her like this. He clutched at his chest subconsciously and swallowed hard, head hanging low. Sure thing, they had had their own quarrels over the years. Ha! With how hard-headed they both were… and prideful... Still, Astrid did more of the yelling in her full-out-Viking demeanor and Hiccup did more of the sarcastic replies.

No. He was right. They were nearing both him and Heather into insanity and that was not right. Right?

Toothless warbled up to him, worriedly. "Don't worry about me, Toothless. Just… thinking." Toothless cooed warmly at him, obviously offering someone to talk to. Hiccup lovingly petted his head in response, "I'm glad I have you, buddy."

"Well, you have me too, by the looks of it." A new voice joined in, coming to soar next to the first duo, "I think I have a migraine."

"Heather." Hiccup acknowledged, turning around in his saddle to eye the girl. "Let me guess..."

"-They're unbearable. I think my headache has a headache by now." She scoffed, sighing. The girl crossed her arms, blowing away a jet-black loose strand of hair from her face.

Hiccup nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah..." He mumbled. A pause. "You don't think I-"

"Hiccup." Heather cut him in, "That back there we just left behind has been going on for days and days. They're not some little kids who fight and brawl back and forth, 24/7, just because they don't get along. And you and I definitely have more important things to worry about other than their capricious likes and dislikes."

Windshear came to soar right beside the Night Fury. The girl's face was simply done, and Hiccup wondered if he had explicitly looked anyhow like that over the past days, "So no. I don't think you were too hard on them. If anything, I would just have been more even." They each swerved to the side to avoid a formation of scattering seagulls, "If you hadn't blown up, I would have."

The auburn-haired nodded, facing forward, his eyes stinging with the wind. They flew silently for a while, simply enjoying the sound of the waves crashing, and the coolness of the air that had arrived with the heavy-grey clouds settling above. It might just have been the best medicine to cool a hot head.

"Thanks, Heather. You're just about right." He admitted, turning to face the girl on her Razorwhip, "What do you say we head back home and try and sort things out once and for all?"

"Sounds pretty good to me." Heather agreed, "Let's- Hold on a second." She suddenly straightened her back, shoulders stiffening, green eyes settled over his shoulder. Hiccup let his eyebrows rise, he too adopting a more alert stance. "What is it?"

"Boats." She said, pointing off to a dot on the wild sea, "East."

Hiccup turned around in his saddle, to face the other way around. His face hardened as he pulled his spyglass from one of Toothless' saddlebags, only to bring it to his eye and confirm his assumptions, "Dragon Hunters. And they're loaded, by the looks of it." He let out what sounded as a half-growl, "Just guess what kind of load though."

"Dragons." Heather hissed, "We have to do something about it, Hiccup!"

"I know... Usually I'd say we're outnumbered, what with the others at The Edge, but going back there might just let them get away." He focused back on the Berserker, "Alright, I have a plan. Toothless and I will fly in first, make some use of our offspring of lightning and death itself speed. That should draw the fist line of fire away, and leave your way clear to make some damage."

Heather nodded. Hiccup kept on, "Take out three of the five, we want them to sail away. Once those three are out, blast the cages in sight, carefully though. The dragons under deck go after. I'll take care of the three on the North while you give me cover. Yours are the ones on the south, same method. Got it?"

Heather grinned, clicking her tongue, "Crystal clear, captain. Let's go kick some Dragon Hunter butt! Come on Windshear!"

Hiccup too smiled determinedly, "Let's go, buddy. We wanna get this done before the storm turns any worse." Toothless warbled back in response, bolting off with a strong push of his wings.

As soon as they got in range, a hysterical cry of "DRAGON RIDERS!" echoed throughout the ships. Just as instantly, all types of harmful welcome treats were being shot their way- easily nothing they couldn't evade. Heather pulled Windshear up, waiting just as agreed.

Hiccup caught her eyes and both nodded. With a deep breath the young rider laid himself against his dragon, his stomach pressing against the saddle, straps enclosed in an iron like grip. They shot upwards then fell down.

The duo gracefully blasted to the side with a perfect loop, abruptly changing directions from left to right. The ships were sailing in a sort of crescent moon and Toothless soared the acute angle literally sideways, his belly to the outside so it was protected whilst Hiccup made use of the shield on his curved back as protection.

Rough, deep voices had gone thin, and Hiccup knew it wasn't simply from the effect of the distance they were at and the raging wind. The storm had evolved murderously, cracks of lightning lighting up the skies. The waves were wild, dark and the ships creaked in fear, either at the sight of the awful weather or the offspring of the same lightning storm ditching their boulders and arrows and nets. Without attacking...

Why wasn't the Night Fury attacking?!

"Do s'mthin' 'bout it!" One of the men cried out.

As soon as Hiccup and Toothless were out of the way, Heather called out to Windshear in determination. Both girl and dragon shot downwards, the Razorwhip's tail already swinging with excitement at the idea of chopping down some immoral Dragon Hunter' ships.

All in all, everything was going just right.

As always, until it went very, very wrong.

The Hunters didn't have time to reload like the riders had predicted, per see, but they also had something else up their sleeve. After girl and dragon'd successfully eliminated one of the targets, and shot away from them, backs turned to their enemies, Windshear suddenly roared in distress.

"Heather!" Hiccup called out in horror, watching as the duo got caught by an enormous chain connected to the ship. They hadn't been counting on that... if the Hunters had them, they should have used the large, strong chains sooner.

Sons of a spitting, spitted troll!

Windshear kept pushing forward, trying to effectively finish their retreat. But it was of no use, for another chain had been fired from another ship, and Heather's hands had been pinned against her saddle and legs.

Hiccup's heart skipped a beat at her scream, "Toothless, dive!"

It went even more wrong. Toothless fired, multiple purple blasts, each hitting the chains at different points. They shook, but didn't break.

"Dragon proof!" Hiccup exclaimed, only to be cut in the middle of his whirlpool of thoughts when Heather's voice sounded again, this time forming his name.

"Hiccup, watch out!"

It happened too fast.

A lightning bolt lit up the world, the imposing sound of thunder following. He felt chocking pain against his throat, pulling him backwards. Toothless kept flying forward. His prosthetic was still stuck in the peddle of Toothless' tailfin.

He felt his lungs heaving for air, after all of it having been taken away, but something was wrong. He couldn't breathe.

It hurt. It was suffocating. There was an abnormal pressure against his trachea.

His stomach churned.

Somewhere blasts só under, then different ones. He heard Heather scream again and could just see through his mind's eye the undying image of the Berserker crashing brutally on some deck.

Then the pulsing in his ears that already sounded like water rushing incessantly became too real. The cold sweeping around him mercilessly seemed to bite his every part, becoming solid.

Under the rebellious, churning ocean, it was quiet.

Pain.

Quiet.

—-

"They're not back yet?" Snotlout asked, coming to stop beside the blonde boy on one of the wooden walks connecting the huts of Dragon's Edge.

"No..." Fishlegs admitted, crossing his arms over his chest as if to try and hug himself some comfort, "Ohhh Thor... I don't like this... I really don't like this..."

Snotlout rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, Fishface! You never like it! They're fine! What could possibly have happened?"

Fishlegs frowned almost angrily at the Jorgenson. There was quite an endless list of possibilities and probabilities to answer that pointless question, obviously. It was more like, 'What could possibly _not_ have happened?'

"Look," The dark haired boy added, visibly relaxed has he smoothed his hands about in the air, "All I'm saying's Heather's with Hiccupy boy. You know she's capable enough to take care of a Haddock."

Again, he received a glare.

"Alright! Alright! They're probably just waiting out the storm somewhere! You know Toothless and Hiccup are perfect lightning magnets." Snotlout tried for the third time.

"I- I just hope they're all okay..." Fishlegs then squinted at Snotlout, "Wait, weren't you, as I recall and quote, "Relaxing your nerves out at the Clubhouse, never to leave out into this outrageous weather any time soon"?"

A pause.

Snotlout shrugged, "Astrid and Dagur are back at it again. Hiccup's gone. It's your turn."

The chuby boy squeaked.

"Feels bad, man."

...

"Oh Thor!" The chubby boy cried out, racing some steps forward before actually finding some sense of self-preservation and stopping hesitantly on his steps, "Guys please stop!"

Weapons raised over their heads, the two in question seemed ready to do everything but stopping.

"Not until his head's rolling around as a fetch toy for Stormfly!" Astrid growled, eyebrows scrunching hard.

"Ohhhh, oh oh... You're on blondie!" Dagur provoked, "But we all know who's the princess here- WOAH!"

"ASTRID!" Fishlegs screamed, grabbing fistfuls of his own hair and pulling at it, "Snotlout, do something! Grab her while I grab Dagur! Hurry!"

Snotlout, who had been leaning on the beam of the door of the Clubhouse, picking at his nails, nearly choked on his own saliva, "WHAT? Are you nuts, Fishface?! She literally just nearly cut his head off with that vile axe!" His voice had reached a high pinch when the blonde boy desperately tried pushing him towards the fight. He hurriedly shoved Fishlegs instead, "YOU take care of Astrid, I'll handle Dagur!"

Tuffnut shrugged, his shoulders bouncing off carelessly next to the ferocious violence act, "I don't really see which one's better. They both could give you quite an awesome scar."

Fishlegs froze, glancing at the Jorgenson questioningly, receiving as an answer the mouthed 'They were not here before'.

"Since when- NO, Dagur! Stop it!- Since when have you guys been here, exactly?" The Ingerman wondered.

Tuffnut shrugged once again, briefly glancing back at his sister, sitting on the central table with a bored expression, elbow on her knee and cheek on that arm's hand, "Since we put ants on Snotlout's pants while he slept."

"Wait, what-?" Snotlout mumbled, pausing.

"And you haven't bothered to stop them?! They'll end up killing themselves!" Fishlegs yelled exasperated.

"I can feel them! Get them out! Get them out!" Snotlout screamed from behind, before throwing himself onto the floor, "I'm not alone in my skin! Aaah!"

"To be honest, we're quite fed up with it now. We're just here to watch the drama unfold. Also," His face grew serious and comically offended, "Who do you think we are? Some crazy, brainless, violence- fanatics nuts? Pff..." Then he bounded off to sit by his sister, contrarily to her excitedly watching as Dagur's axe was cut off midair by a roaring, seriously cursing Astrid.

Fishlegs couldn't quite repeat those words yet, or else his sweet mother would be very disappointed in her boy.

Ohhh, but he had to do something! They were going to hurt themselves and Hiccup and Heather would never forgive him! He couldn't let that happen!

But all his tries had repeatedly been ignored, for as worried and gentle as he'd been, trying to lessen the size of the flames radiating from inside the two warriors. Ohh... what to do? What would Hiccup do? What would Heather do?

What...

"Brainless, rat-eating troll! How can anyone stand you with that... those lunatic ways!"

"At least I didn't make my sister and brother leave, Asteroid. Why don't you work on your obsessive nature a bit more than you throw butter-knives at twigs!"

"Because of me- AGH! You're the reason for all this Daggy! And what the Hel's an asteroid?!" She growled, "You son of a-"

What to do! What to do! His head was exploding. He was so sick of all that... so... sick... he couldn't think! Fishlegs needed to think!

"Get them out! Get them out! HELP!"

Meatlug roared in distress next to her rider, raising her front paws as a rolling Snotlout came her way and then ducking fearfully as a pair of glinting daggers flew above her head, sinking into the wall behind her.

"Arghh!"

"YOU LUNATI-"

"MAYBE HICCUP AND HEATHER LEFT BECAUSE OF BOTH OF YOU! YOU'RE BOTH THE PROBLEM! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE IT?! BOTH! BOTH! BOTH!"

When he opened his eyes, Fishlegs was surprised to find the whole room in a deadly silence. The twins had raised their head, eyes wide, as if something had just been destroyed right there. Snotlout seemed to have been frozen on his place on the floor, also shocked. Dagur had his axe pulled back, ready to stike, but seemed to have lost all focus on what he was doing, frozen in awe just like everyone. Astrid's eyes were authentic balls.

"Woah… didn't know he had it in him!" Ruffnut exclaimed, torn between too feeling shock or just pure excitement.

Tuffnut looked horrified for a moment, "Either of them… It just brings back too many memories…" He shuddered.

"Always the calm ones…" Ruffnut shook her head.

Astrid slowly lowered her glare to the axe held tight in her hand, her grip seemingly she appeared guilty for a second, the other her prideful figure had returned, being Astrid Hofferson, and the girl threw one last look of disdain at her enemy before heading out of the Clubhouse. "He's not worth my time, anyway…" She mumbled, leaving.

Fishlegs would have noticed the look in Ruffnut's eyes hadn't Dagur stepped in, "What?! Who does she think she is?!" He complained, waving his weapon abruptly about. Tuffnut eyed the swinging blade expectantly.

"Not worth her time…pff… Puffy, stuffy head…" His voice started to grow smaller as he disappeared, "She'll see…"

And with that, Fishlegs' words fell in a sort of forgetfulness, the truth spoken out loud avoided hurriedly by the two. Those two who had more in common than they wanted to accept. About that Hiccup was right, Fishlegs had to admit.

He saw through the corner of his eye the blonde Thorston girl give her brother an elbow to the stomach, pointing with her chin somewhere towards the way Dagur had left, not quite understanding why, given that his head was still cooling down from the now-embarassement of his earlier outburst. Had Hiccup felt like that?

Odin, what even had gotten into his head? So out of character, Fishlegs!

The room fell into an eerie silece given all the commotion that had taken place there before. Fishlegs turned from the now empty room, too shaky to worry about where the twins could have gone to so secretly , only to find a limp Snotlout on the ground. He no longer rolled, instead resting from the effort of freeing himself from the supposed unwanted guests.

"They're gone… They're finally gone, phew…" The Jorgenson mumbled, "Sweet relief…"

Fishlegs couldn't help but feel that those words could have more than one way to be listened to, but he was too awkward about these social things and was sure his brain was just reliving that recent moment, so he put it past him.

"They're gone, aren't they?!"

"Come on Snotlout, you didn't really have any ants on you, or else you would have felt them sooner..." He reasoned, his face scarlet from exposure.

"Now we really should go out looking for Hiccup and Heather before the storm truly arrives here. Looks like it's just the two of us."

"Correction: looks like it's just you, Fishface." Snotlout argued.

"No, it is not!" Fishlegs replied, "Otherwise I'll just leave you to the twins!"

That got him. Snotlout whined miserably from the floor, dropping even limper, his cheek pressed against the wooden surface in defeat, "I wate ma 'ife."

 **...**

 **Sooo, that was it! I hope it's worth something, as im already working on the next chapter. All along these weeks ive been using what lil time i had to write and it only resulted in this. I just didnt post this weekend for im truly exhausted :(**

 **I'll try to hurry up with the next one friends!**

 **Oh and im always up to know what you thought of this ;) keep on being kind lovelies!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yooo!**

 **Well, I'm back… at the end of the school year (which was one month ago but I had two exams then and didn't like the mark of one so repeated it a couple days ago) oof, please save me! This cost me at least 1 month and a half of the 3 months of summer vacation so my spirit's a little low but these bad guys are the ones that'll grant me access to a uni course, I couldn't slack. Also, it's been a hard period concerning my heath, which I don't want to explain much. Anyway, I seriously hope you guys to understand this, what with not posting for this long.**

 **Anywow, here's another chap. I'm not that content with this one but it's a hard time so I simply gave it my best and hoped for you guys to not dislike it that much.**

 **This chapter doesn't say much, but it has a bit more of bonding between other characters. And now...**

 **Reviews!**

 **TheDrawingDemon: Awww, thank you! Hiccupy boy… Stable boy- I love our boy. Snotlout can really say some pretty funny things sometimes. *wiggles eyebrows* yesss, Hiccup!whup much. I totally feel what you're saying even if… I don't really understand it either. I guess we just want to see our precious noodle finally being taken care of, buddie. And it becomes far more special given that despite that one drowning time in rtte and lightning in Rob or Dob, it's always Astrid who gets the stuff *sigh* Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Nightfurylover1112: Yesssss! I'm so glad you do, really! Thank you for the feedback!**

 **Guest: *a new chapter has been updated* Thank you!**

 **Guest #2: Absolutely none taken! Though I'll have to disagree with you… While yes Astrid's his love, Hiccup also loves his friends, the gang and even Heather and Dagur. And as their leader, he finds the need to be fair and work for the team's balance. Now, this can't happen if he just takes Astrid's side because he loves her. Hiccup has a fair sense of justice, having been treated roughly enough and he would not want to be unfair to anyone. Now, this conflict inside him is enough to drive him crazy, and that's why he explodes at her as well. She's not acting right. Besides, usually you unstress more on the people closest to you, the ones you love even most- it's just something that seems to happen to us humans (not 100% on everyone). Hiccup is just that, a human.**

 **oOoOo**

There was a strange rocking of the world…back and forth, up and down…

Hiccup twitched. He couldn't recall any reason why he would be feeling that dizzy. Trying to move out of that annoyingly uncomfortable and painful position all he accomplished was a pained cry as his neck exploded to pieces.

"Hiccup?" He also found out his throat was, for some reason, feeling like he'd drunk lava. Lava with boulders in it. "Hiccup..."

"A-Astrid?" Hiccup cracked his eyes open, grateful there was little to no light in the place. A blurry form stood above him, "Hey, take it easy." it soothed. He finally recognized the voice, pushing himself to his elbows in a slow, jammed way, "Heather?" He rasped, almost instantly doubling over as a coughing fit ran him over, what he suspected to be salt water scraping the back of his throat further more.

When it was over, he felt something weight against him, or perhaps _he_ was the weight and Hiccup looked up to face the heavy expression on the black-haired girl's face, "Wha- What…happened?"

Heather laid one of her arms across his chest, the other across his back, helping him lean against the wall, "We screwed up, that's what. Caught ourselves in a big trouble."

That seriously should have come as a surprise for Hiccup, but it didn't- fact that should have worried him as well. Hiccup slowly raised a hand to his neck, hissing as soon as his fingertips so much as traced a line over the bruised skin. He wildly looked around, trying to grow more aware of the situation.

"Hey, stop it." Heather warned him, shooing his hands away, "It's bruised enough."

Hiccup nodded slowly. "How long-?"

Heather sighed, jerking her head in order to push her braid away, "I have no idea," She admitted, the two looking around at their surroundings. The cell they were in was pretty much the same style as most of the Dragon Hunter cells of other ships. There was a dim light coming from the end of the tunnel, the cages in front of them empty, even though dragon like sounds seemed to echo from another spot inside the boat, or really, it was simply the creaking of the wet wood in the stormy sea. They seemed to be in one of the last cages, as a bunch of wooden barrels and other chests and even scrap seemed to have been thrown there, against the last wall of the corridor.

"When I woke up it was already dark, well, darker," She explained, her voice wavering, "And the storm had grown worse. You were slumped next to me. That was few minutes ago."

He eyed the girl up and down. Her armor was all scraped, especially the shoulder pads and the sides of her metal skirt over her hips. He cringed at the sight of a nasty bruise already appearing on her right cheek, swelling the area.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned. The last moments before he'd blacked out had returned to him, but he still had no idea what had happened to Heather.

The girl leaned her back next to him, against the creaking wooden wall, shrugging, "Pretty much crashed on deck after you were pulled underwater." Her eyes were held down, inspecting the hands resting over her lap, "I think I've got broken fingers and a sprained wrist."

"What?" Hiccup felt his eyes widen. That was unfortunate and really, everything they didn't need right now. Dam, he'd gotten his friend injured... "Let me see." He told her softly, ignoring the headache his pounding cervical was responsible for. In fact, his whole back was a nuisance, feeling like someone had pulled his back bone mercilessly in opposite directions too suddenly, like a jolt. His neck was almost unbearable, though he'd get through it, really, what other choice did he have? And there was an uncomfortable pressure yet over his trachea. Like there still was a chain wrapped tightly around it.

"Ffff-" Heather hissed as he lightly touched her knuckles. A couple fingers were swollen beyond recognition, but only two on her left hand and her pinky on the right one had these bumps that meant they'd broke.

"Sorry... I count three, at least. And the wrist is badly sprained."

"Great," Heather deadpanned, "Really, just about everything I need right now."

Hiccup actually dared a laugh, hoping to lighten the mood somehow, which caught the Berserker girl by surprise, "Well, we're in the clutches of the enemy, caged like animals," He motioned at the iron bars of their cells, "they still got the dragons at their possession, sailing their way to possible auctions or worse, in the middle of a raging storm, in the middle of the sea," the boat lurched more violently for emphasis, "and you still wanted to not have any broken fingers? It'd be way too easy... I mean, you're lucky to still have both hands."

Heather stared at her companion before a smile tugged at her own lips, "Well, look who's talking, mister. As I recall, I'm not the one who was fished under sea directly from the back of his own dragon, nearly drowned and am still lacking a leg." She pointed down at his stump.

"Yeah, yeah, play the crippled card- oh." Hiccup suddenly swore some colorful words and she found him staring, literally, at his own stump.

"Oh." Heather awkwardly stared. She raised her green eyes to find Hiccup more bothered than worried.

"Not again..." He complained, sighing, "It is always the leg, isn't it?"

"You think they took it?" She asked him.

"Nooo... I mean... I don't know. Feels more like I lost it when they pulled me from Toothless..." Then, his emerald spheres did go round, and in a panic he turned to face her in such a sudden turn that even the girl cringed at the sound of the cracking blue/purple/yellow neck.

Hiccup, however, didn't point it out. He took hold of her shoulders in pure distress, "Toothless! Oh Thor! Toothless! Heather, the dragons!"

It was her turn to grow worried, "Windshear!" She exclaimed, flashes of the terrible moment they'd been captured coming at mind, "She- she managed to get away! Toothless blasted one of the decks and the chain went lose. She too blasted the other two but I... I fell then..." Heather stared into her fellow Dragon Rider's wild green eyes and recognized the same queasiness was taking over her being.

"Oh no! Hiccup..." She shot to her feet, "... The chains were still around her, and they're too heavy for her to fly with them wrapped around her. Fly or…or worse... to... to float!"

Hiccup struggled to his knees, "Toothless can't fly on his own either..." He had a desolate look on his face, auburn hair still a bit wet and glued to his forehead in a way that obscured his eyes, "Did you see them catching him?!"

"No! I mean- from what I remember, he was still bolting forward when you were caught, and the rest all happened equally fast. He perhaps escaped the Hunters as well..."

There was a pause, a silence no one wanted to break with the next words.

"But not the water..." Hiccup dreaded. They heard thunder shake the world outside, and the waves splashed furiously against the ship, threatening to break it, determined to sink it down.

Both froze, paling at the simple thought of their precious dragons, friends, trying to keep floating, facing that awful weather alone, or even... dead by then.

"We have to get out of here." Hiccup almost cried, struggling to keep his voice even- the image of his best friend in such predicament too sickening. _He couldn't lose Toothless... He couldn't lose Toothless... He could not lose Toothless._

Heather swallowed a rather pessimistic ' _but how?_ '- _Windshear_ needed her, she reminded herself, "Agreed. And fast."

Hiccup looked around, his brain gears fuming, "Alright, first things first. Come here. Let me wrap up your hands."

oOo

"Huh... yes?" Dagur asked, his hand still lingering over the door's handle of the Haddock abode.

Tuffnut stood awkwardly outside, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Dagur repeated, tilting his head to the side, "What do you mean you don't know?"

Tuffnut shrugged, "I don't know that either."

A pause.

"Great." Dagur lightly deemed. He moved to close the door, just as awkwardly.

"Wait!" Tuffnut called, "I think I know."

Dagur pulled the door up again, blinking at the sight of the blonde boy mouthing soundless words up at the dark sky, as if he was trying to remember his lines, "Huh... oh yeah right!" His face brightened, "I'm supposed to make sure you don't go Berserker Chief mad… insane again, y'know like before, haha... try to kill us all… because of Hoff back there."

"No wait, I wasn't supposed to actually mention that last part..." He suddenly realized.

Dagur deadpanned, "I'm perfectly sAnE!" He just about screamed, "And I don't need yOUR HELP!... huh, are you the boy or the girl?"

Tuffnut suddenly pushed him aside, assuming a very professional tone as he marched uninvited inside the lower level of Hiccup's hut, "Call me Doctor T. Thorston, now..." He swiftly pulled a chair from Hiccup's working desk next to the forge, dragging it to the bedside, given that there was an extra bed on the hut, where Dagur slept as Hiccup's temporary roommate.

The Berserker Chief stood still by the entrance of the hut, his dry-leaf green eyes watching the young Dragon Rider flop down into the chair, crossing his legs and intertwining his fingers.

"Okaaaaayy, haha ha... listen here, Tuffy…" He started, stepping towards his unwanted guest while controlling a spasm on his right eye, "All I need right now is to sharp my axe, and yank those beauty, blonde hairs from that annoying, know-it-all, self-centered little..." He coughed purposely, "If you leave right now, I might just...," He stopped for a moment, to give the rest of his speech more emphasis, "NOT TRY IT ON YOU FIRST, TUFFBUTT!"

Tuffnut stared at the madman quietly, his eyes very much open. Then he said, "Wow, rude" and frowned.

Dagur watched as the boy rose to his feet, puffing his chest out, "I didn't want to be forced to do this..." The blonde boy began, "... Honestly, from nut to loon…" His eyes were dark, blonde dread-locks swinging back and forth dramatically as he swung his head in a disappointed 'no'. "But if I come back from this quest failed, the consequences will be far more devastating. My sister will unleash all her wrath" His voice boomed, "on me and kick my Thorston butt to the fifth century- which, now that I think about it, actually sounds totally AWESOME! Anyway, so you leave me no other choice my red-haired, uncontrolled friend."

Another pause.

"Remember, I just wanted to help you. By the powers in me invested, I hereby unleash... the Bird's Wrath!"

Dagur rose one of his disfigured eyebrows, eyeing the senseless boy as he over dramatically rose his arms in the air. Then, out of the blue, a form erupted from the opened doors.

"Bff... B.. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!," He laughed, watching as Chicken flopped across the wooden boards of the floor, "It's... It's a chicken! Oh no! What's it gonna do? Lay eggs on me? "

Tuffnut narrowed his eyes and soon, Dagur's laughing had turned to screaming.

Chicken clucked and cackled madly, having jumped on top of the Berserker as she waved her wings on top of him, pricking the top of his head furiously, offended.

"No one, no one talks to a lady like that." Tuffnut pouted, crossing his arms as he watched the scene unfold.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Dagur yelled, trying to no use to get the bird off his head.

After several daggers and axes having been thrown across the room; the shields and Toothless's tailfins that hung on the wall having been thrown to the floor as part of the trail of destruction; one or two hammers from the forge having been lost outside and so Hiccup's patience having been put at a ready to be tested once he returned, a very disheveled Dagur laid on his back on his bed, hands resting over his belly and fingers intertwined, facing the ceiling in an almost catatonic way.

Chicken stood proudly on Tuffnut's lap, eyeing suspiciously the man, who flinched every time the bird so much as stretched its wings.

"Now!" Tuffnut began as if he was a pro at that subject, "I too have been forced to live with tyrants in my life..."

oOo

"What do you want?" Astrid practically growled. From the corner of her eye she could just spot the blonde head that'd barely knocked before peeking inside her space standing next to the door of her hut. To say Astrid was surprised at seeing Ruffnut knocking at her door was an understatement, given that the two, despite having developed a much more stable and controlled friendship recently, had certainly shared a much closer bond years back, before they killed dragons instead of flying them.

And Astrid knew, even if their personalities clashed- Astrid was dedicated, determined and focused, while Ruffnut was carefree, head-in-the-clouds and more given to her brother's banters than work itself, both being extremely tough and... short-tempered- the fault wasn't entirely on the Thorston girl's shoulders, but just as heavy on her own.

Of course, the way she was boiling in low water, totally wiped out any of those thoughts from her mind, and Astrid was sure she would have made good use of the axe she was currently over-sharpening hadn't it silently been promised for another, particular, **someone**.

"So?" She coldly demanded, delivering the other girl a murderous look as she briefly rose her eyes from the axe on her lap. Ruffnut didn't even blink at that- a glare that would've put anyone with enough self-care jogging their way to safety, preferably inside the Archipelago, or even her goofier self when she was in a nut-like state with Tuffnut- obviously this time her serious persona was in control and Astrid wasn't scaring her.

For some reason, it made Astrid even more unnerved. Usually imposing her posture on people would drive them away if she wanted to, or simply grant her the psychological sensation of security.

"What do you think?" The three-braided blonde deadpanned.

"I don't know, Ruffnut. It wasn't me who knocked on my door." She bit back.

Ruffnut crossed her arms, eyeing the weapons carefully hanged on the walls of the place, so many that the wall was barely visible.

"Alright, listen here. If you're here to actually say something useful than just do it. Otherwise do me a favour and leave. I want to be alone and am not in the mood to stand anymore foolish banter."

Ruffnut's head shot in her direction, her mouth opening than closing in a thin line. Her eyebrows sunk harder than before," Fine, " She replied, opening her arms to sooth her hands over the air in a complying way, though it was visibly obvious she was anything but, "I was tryna see how I could break this to you nice and slowly, because I guess that's what Hiccup or your bestie Heather would do," She received a low glare at the mention of the names, "but I guess it's gonna have to come out straight-forward and blunt, like you sister..."

Then, the twin girl shrugged, "Astrid, I think- no. Astrid, you've been an utter and total ass lately."

Astrid felt her mouth opening like that of a fish and she silently cursed herself for it. Not only did she already feel like a very much stepped on piece of dragon dung and now she had to withstand Ruffnut bad-mouthing her as well? What?! Was everyone on that base going to turn on her now? We're they on Dagur's side?!

"Excuse me?" She let out, feeling her constricted core ready to snap in ire.

"I'm not the only one who has to." Ruffnut went on, wildly, "With all the ruckus you've been dealing us recently."

"What? So you're on his side now?!" She couldn't help but scream, closing the distance between them both with large, infuriated steps, "Because you don't start a fight with only one person, Ruffnut!" She jammed a finger against Ruffnut's chest, "Besides, who are you to tell me about ruckus. Have you forgotten your own daily routine?"

"My daily routine doesn't scare Hiccup and Heather away like yours did!" The grey-blue-eyed Rider declared, swatting away the other's finger.

"Except that it already has!" Astrid argued back.

"That... Really doesn't matter." Ruffnut said, "Look, Tuff and I may give you guys a lot of trouble with our way of being, but that's just who we are!" She started, earning a sideways glance from Astrid's right blue eye. She had crossed her arms over chest as soon as the last part of the other's speech had started and Ruffnut knew that Astrid knew she was in to hit a sore spot.

"And no way in Hel we're ever going to change because of that! That's who we are, that's who we want to be. Now Dagur, he's a crazy, lunatic fellow, I'll tell ya, girl. But this, this isn't you!" She gestured at the young shield-madden, "You're Astrid! Berk's golden girl! Strong, amazing, beautiful, capable, behaved Astrid!" Her voice was slightly mocking when at the adjectives, "Not this! It's obvious you're worried with H, both of them."

Astrid silently found herself nodding, the girl's speech proving surprisingly neat and right.

"You should know better, remember when Dagur kidnapped me? How was Tuff then?"

Astrid paused, "A mess..." She admitted, _Like I'd never seen before and ever thought I'd see him,_ "But he wasn't properly angry, so where do you wanna reach?"

Ruffnut had removed her helmet subconsciously, having picked up a mace from a wall. Astrid felt herself taking a deep breath to not yell out that those were carefully organized in case there was an attack, and that, even not being her precious axe, those were her babies too.

"We could be sisters!" Ruffnut said, "But it wouldn't work as well as you and Heather. And she's not here right now, and I know… you would much rather talk all this out with her than with me, because I'm just like my brother- and I wouldn't want to talk it out with him neither. Well... I would, but not you.

"And this moment will pass and we'll each be back to our old selves like before. But there's no one else here, Snotface and Fishlegs are definitely no option. Tuffnut's tormenting Dagur," She saw a vicious yet understandable satisfied smile tug at Astrid's lips at that, "and Hiccup and Heather are gone.

"And you... You don't really talk, but now probably need to. You have just really been an ass with everyone. Dagur too, though he's been an equal Dagass - But I'm a woman as well Astrid, and you might not respect me as such, but I am. Living with my idiot brother as given me a good enough taste of your own insanity right now, but when we fight we usually don't do it for weeks on end. That is _why_ I know you're mad at Dagur and still distrust him, _but_ you're also hurt."

Astrid raised her round eyes once more, her mouth agape. She was especially stupefied with the way Ruff had said what she had said, and much more that she actually could say it! But she forced herself to be reminded that the twins were no fools when they wanted to and then bounded over to a chair, flopping down with a sigh, defeated.

Ruffnut Eugene Thorston had just defeated Astrid Hofferson? With words!

With words!

 _Gods, have I been that bad_? She thought.

Astrid sighed once again, "How-?" She passed a hand over her face, eyes closed before briefly waving in the other's direction.

"Eh... I'm not always that violent," Ruffnut shrugged, "just most of the time."

Astrid thought she actually smiled at the twin," No... But you were right... I- huh," She passed a hand through her hair, axe long forgotten "Hiccup's my boy- best friend, and Heather's also just really grown on me... But Dagur, I don't know, even after the unrolling of the situations I guess I still haven't yet grown used to the idea of him as an ally. Like, the guy has decimated Heather's village! He's insane! Instead of just telling her she was his sister, he goes all Berserk! And the times he nearly killed us all, "She laughed dryly, "They're hard to forget. The timed he's hurt one of us… the times he's hurt Hiccup I'll never forgive!

"So it's just enraging when he comes here all 'brother this and sister that'. These people are my friends, and I'm still, deep down and not really by choice, expecting him to turn a traitor!" Her glare was that of Gronkle Iron hard," No one hurts my friends."

Then, her scowl softened into a more thinking expression, "I know he's unpredictably unstable, but to change like he did, it's hard to believe. So..." She grabbed her own upper arm, still not fully believing she was admitting this out loud, and to Ruffnut of all people, "I got really mad that he was sort of stealing my friends and… might have over reacted so I could do the same to him back."

Ruffnut coughed at that.

"But hey, the feeling was real, alright?" Astrid snapped for a moment.

"Over reacted?" Ruffnut asked, pursing her lips.

"Yeah... Over reacted. Are you my judge now or you wanna listen?"

"Go on, sis." The blonde put her hands up in the air in a calming way.

Astrid eyed her before continuing. She wanted anything but to admit that this was, in fact, sort of therapeutic, "Hiccup trusted the doofus, obviously, and it made me all the madder, because he's this sweet giver and I would hate it if Dagur stabbed his back at last and Heather's as well. Sooo…" She sighed, not really used to speak her feelings entirely, "…when Hiccup exploded and they both left, I felt... " She held her nose high, "I felt betrayed. Like he couldn't chose me over him, over _Dagur_.", and spat the name out.

"Guess this one fight all I really wanted was to destroy that lunatic, for real, even more than before."

"We could tell. You were at each other's throats."

"Yeah... But I had his the most." Astrid dared play, "Right now, though... I'm more worried than anything."

A pause.

"Gods, I've really been an idiot, haven't I?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah, you have. A complete, utter idiot- the biggest idiot on Midgard- Asstrid." Ruffnut agreed, her tone already swinging to a more Ruffnut-authentic one by the end.

"Alright- don't push it." Astrid warned. _Asstrid, oh gods... Really?_

"So that means you're out to apologize to everyone and I can go back to my usual self? Get mine and my brothers reputation back? Because, seriously, being serious is bo-ring!" Ruff half-sang.

"What, no?" Astrid instantly shot back, "Though, I mean... I do owe you guys a 'sorry' I guess, especially Fishlegs and..." She pushed her bangs to the side, still not believing she'd actually driven the two riders in mind to flee, "But Dagur gets nothing! He's just as guilty."

"Nice..." Ruffnut said, "It actually went a whole lot better than expected, I still got my head on though, what a shame! 4/10 wouldn't be like this again..." Then she eyed the Hofferson, "Just because you needed it, remember, this stays between us." She put her helmet back on as she opened the door up to leave.

Astrid rose, having gathered enough courage to wrap the girl with a quick hug, "Deal. And... Thanks... I guess. I, I believe I was needing this."

Ruffnut seemed caught by surprise at the 'T' word, but then quickly smiled wildly, "Right-" And she interrupted by the sounds of high pinched voices echoing through the outpost. They seemed troubled.

Sharing a brief look between each other, they set off running through the sidewalks around the huts, knowing the wind had picked up too strongly to fly safely.

 **oOoOo**

 **Can life of Dragon's Edge get possibly even closer? Obviously! It has to!**

 **Well, peeps, watch me dump all the CharacterAxCharacterB development I desperately need in here XD I seriously hope it didn't get that boring- I am aware this chapter doesn't say much!**

 **Since I didn't really know how to fill in the blank between this chapter and the next, I thought I could give our favourite riders more depth by explaining some of their feelings and ways and also make them interact with other characters they usually don't as much. But if it was boring, I'm sorry, there'll be more action on the next chapter so please just bear with me, I promise a cliffhanger next chapter!**

 **Things are about to heat up!**

 **Baii!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, what do you mean 2 chapters in a row? Am I out of my mind?! *remembers all the time without posting* *sweats nervously***

 **Yeah... so, anyway. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter yadda yadda yadda, also, I'm so sorry for its end lmao, but I promised some action and a cliffhanger. Also, I'm on a bad-author spree, and it's about to get worse. Watch out characters!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **oOo**

It was raining as they ran, and it was raining hard. The wind had picked up brutally - the dragons were thankfully already in the stables or else they'd be out there knocking into things much like Astrid and Ruffnut were- only they didn't have wings to make it as worse- and the loud echo of thunder out on the horizon seemed to poetically complete the uncomfortable scenario.

Astrid swallowed hard, shaking her head as she ran, Ruffnut right beside her. She feared they would get sick what with how soaked they were by then, not a single tiny bit escaping the evil frigid pouring water.

But they'd seen movement by the stables from the sidewalks above, the ones curling around the Clubhouse which meant there would be no turning back to a nice, warm bath and enjoying the sound of the rain top-topping outside, accompanied by thunder, from under some soft wool blankets.

Seriously, what in Thor's name were Fishlegs and Snotlout doing with their dragons out at a time like that? Suddenly a steely feeling stabbed her stomach at that, but she chose to ignore it.

"What did you do?! How reckless can you be?" Astrid had yelled even before the two boys and their respective dragons were close enough to be more than blurry figures behind a curtain of falling water, "What were you thinking?

Ruffnut, who was running by her side, the girl's boots making a funny squelching sound because of the water, pointed in their direction, "Looks like they went fishing!"

And truthfully, they had. Astrid gasped, nearly sliding across the flooded platform in front of the stables as her boots slipped a couple times. Her heart hammered in her chest, not for all the running, not for the sight of her gravely shaken friends, but at the sight of two more figures beside them, lying on the wet floor, unconscious, limp and soaked. It hammered in shock and dissociation- what that meant, she still couldn't quite grasp.

Skidding to a halt, the blonde one-braided girl kneeled by one of the dragon's head, eyes wide and round as she petted the wet scales uncertainly, "Too-Toothless! Windshear!-"

Behind her, what could only be Dagur and Tuffnut's steps sounded, and a flicker of irritation flared up inside her as Her Derangedness called out his sister's name in question, then in a growl. Still, she swallowed it down as far more important matters than _him_ popped to mind.

 _Heather's not here. Heather's not here._

"Heather?! Where's my sister?!" Dagur questioned, an ireful glint in his eyes as he not even flinched at the loudest of thunders. Fishlegs shook and swallowed hardly. The boy was pale, and she could see hiccups in his chest as he fiddled with his index fingers in that nervous, oh-so-Fishlegs-like way.

 _Hiccup's not here. Hiccup's not here. Hiccup's not here. Where is he?! Where is Hiccup?!_

"Where's Hiccup?!" She thought she screamed.

Fishlegs cried lowly and Snotlout looked down. He gave both Astrid and Dagur a pitiful look. Astrid was vaguely aware of the Berserker Chief pushing them on, demanding answers, his mad side showing, but couldn't quite feel angry at that. She couldn't feel angry, not yet. She was frozen, soaked as gelid winds made it through her wet clothes and skin, but not able to feel cold, unable to react. A weight pushed her insides down, trying to drag her through the wooden platform down that high point of the Edge.

Blue eyes reflected lightning as she stared at the unconscious creatures and their visible injuries. Then, she gasped, noticing the glimpse of extra metal sticking out of one of the black dragon's pedals. She instantly snatched it with shaky hands and felt her body tremble as she hugged the prosthetic to her chest, knowing fully well what its presence there but not the rest of it meant. Rain fell from the sky, and her eyes stung in silence, hoping no one would see them as they too cried. She petted the Night Fury's head lovingly, nostalgically, as if he were the most precious thing in all of Midgard. Then, blue spheres looked out into the churning, imposing ocean, the dark rebellious horizon, where the storm was far worse than it was at the outpost, and she shivered. Her whole body shivered at the thought.

Hiccup and Heather were out there, somewhere, somehow, lost, drifting in the middle of the sea, fighting for their lives or very well, already… already dead-

 _I can't imagine a world without you in it…_

She closed her eyes as they burnt, chest unstable.

And it wasn't their fault.

It was Dagur's.

It was her fault.

...

Heather nodded at the boy, forcing a smile to tug at the corner of her lips.

That boy was nuts, she decided, nuts and a little too hopeful for her to ruin with her realistic side. She was feeling too dreadful, a crushing feeling in her gut sending off the unshakeable sensation that their plan would not work that well. To start, it wasn't that much of a plan anyway, as Hiccup said, since they new little of the ship they found themselves in and the state of the weather and world outside, they'd have to "wing it!" as they went.

But it was all they had and Heather 1) wasn't one to stay put, waiting for the Hunters to bring them to their fate and 2) didn't have the heart to crush the one legged boy's hopes, because he was hopeful. If there was one thing Hiccup was, it was hopeful... and stubborn, a strong combination.

It that got him through this all, then she wouldn't be the one to deny him his escape. She wouldn't lower his spirits with a stupid feeling she had- especially when there was no other choice for them to make.

"Hey," Hiccup called out, smiling softly at her, "It's going to be alright, alright?" He laid a hand on her guarded shoulder, briefly checking down at her poorly but surely bandaged hands before returning the smile again, "We'll make this... this plan...work."

Heather had half a mind to point out how useless she felt right then, but simply snorted, waving her still hands slightly, "Yeah, we'll give it a few tweaks on the way."

Hiccup sighed, and she saw as he put on a determined expression after, "Nothing'll happen to you, Heather. Don't worry, I won't let it. I promise."

"Right," She said, "Take care of yourself, Haddock, and if you don't leave my side you should be okay."

Hiccup snorted this time, "I was being serious."

"I know," She smiled, "Me too."

"Aha, Heather, nice." He rolled his eyes, "Pinky promise?"

"You sarcastic idiot!" She gave him a bump in the shoulder with her own, "Let's just do this, we've got to help our dragons."

Hiccup's face turned grim at that, as if he grew eye bags by the simple thought of his dragon out there, alone in the sea, but he shook it away as quickly as it came, and nodded. "You know what to do." He nodded.

In all honesty, there wasn't much to know, Heather feared, but it was the best- all- they had.

"Guard! Guard!" She cried, pushing her face in between the metal bars, "You have to help us!" Her metallic shoulder blade served perfectly as an attention-drawer as she knocked it against the bars of the cell.

A grumble came from the end of the corridor, and a Hunter trudged his way over to where the black haired girl yelled. "Wha' is it?" He half mumbled, half growled.

"You have to do something! My friend..." She looked in Hiccup's direction! "He's... he's not okay. I-" She actually sniffed, "I think he stopped breathing! Please!"

The Hunter frowned, peeking inside at the slumped form, limp on the floor. He raised an eyebrow, "Right, 'cause I'm really fallin' for that, punny girl." And he turned to leave, but Heather called out again.

"Please! I- I'll do anything! Just help him out! Please!" She begged, "I'm begging! Oh god, he's not breathing!"

"And that's m' problem, how?"

Heather nearly scowled, "I don't think Viggo would want his most worthy adversary dead before he has the chance to face him himself... I believe you know where this is going...?"

The man grunted, attempting to keep his scowl on, but Heather saw right through it, a glint of fear in his eyes. _Gotcha._ Then he stepped forward, muttering under his breath something like 'puny dragon riders' as he searched for the right key, "If you attempt anythin' girl, y'know what's waitin' for ye."

"Yes. I won't. Just, please, hurry!" She cried, keeping up the farse.

With yet another set of cussing and threats at the skies, the guard finally stepped inside, heading towards Hiccup. He squatted, patting Hiccup's cheek quite ungently. "Hey! Hey, runt! Ugh... Only me I swear..."

A sudden muffled chuckling filled the air.

The man's eyes went round, as he looked down at the prisioner. Before he could react though, a familiar dingling echoed thorugh the air, and he turned to find Heather smirking, holding the circle of keys she'd snatched from the keyhole, in her bandaged hand.

"Need help with something?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.

Next second, Hiccup swiped his foot under the man's legs, making him lose his balance and give Heather the perfect opportunity to swiftly kick him against the metal bars and knock his head there.

Out clean. No sound. No more guards. At least something had gone right, she mused. But then again, that part was supposed to be easy, the easiest actually.

"That," Hiccup smiled, "was really good."

Heather lent him her forearm, helping the boy balance himself on his only foot, "You weren't so bad yourself," she said, looking down at the space where his prosthetic once stood, "now let's find something to fix _that._ "

...

No dragon wild or trained was in that ship, which was strange.

They had been hoping for their dragons to be there but no. And only the gods knew if they were in any of the other four.

It wasn't necessarily a nice wish, but as the boat lurched and the sound of a murderous thunder shook the air, Heather deemed it the best place to be in when compared to the rebellious ocean.

 _Winshear..._

Focus. She had to focus. If she wanted to save her dragon, getting out of the Hunters' grasp was the top priority- the second being that of dealing with the fatal weather and world outside...

Hiccup motioned for her to stop. He'd been leading the way, holding a dagger in front of him. It was, at her eyes, a rather senseless logic. _She_ had the sword he'd forced her to take out of the unconscious guard's belt, _she_ should be leading the way. Yet, with how vulnerable she was feeling, barely able to hold on to the sword with her broken fingers, and the thought of her dragon lost at sea with chains weighting her down at mind, it did feel nice to have Hiccup close to her. She knew he was just as helpless as she was, what with that swollen neck that made his movements stiff, and the awkward piece of wood bound as best as possible to his stump, surely stabbing the thing. Not to mention his faithful Night Fury in the same predictment- unable to fly and out in the storm.

She could see why Astrid was head over heels.

All this time, he'd been acting like an older brother, watching over her, when in reality, she was pretty sure she was older than he was. For someone who had spent a major time of her life alone, and even if he didn't understand any of that feeling, _lonelisness,_ it felt warm to be treated as such. It almost made her want to rewind time and... and not have been so sharp with Dagur.

 _3._

Hiccup signed with his fingers. He directed her to the one on the right side of the staircase- their goal, their way out- and she almost snorted. She could take the two on the left. In fact, screw her broken fingers for she could take care of all three Dragon Hunters.

Hiccup rolled his eyes at her frown, insisting that she went right.

In a couple seconds, it was done, with minor grunts and gasps.

There were no dragons in that ship, which was weird, but they had checked. Just their luck to be caged in the only dragon-less ship, so all they had to do was get one of those escape boats and get out as fast as possible.

The boat lurched, reminding her how much she didn't want to go outside and making her stumble to the side, unable to support much of her body with her hands. Hiccup caught her by the inside of her upper arm, and then both turned to watch the mayhem on deck from under the latch, nearly laying on top of the stairs.

The few soldiers there were were drenched, running about and nearly slipping in the slippery floor to go sliding across half deck. They seemed rather occupied with taking care of the vessels and the rudders. She almost felt sorry for them, knowing fully well what that rain could do to one's health, but didn't really for 1) they were Dragon Hunters, 2) she was about to be in the same predicment and 3) they were Dragon Hunters, really, the most immoral men there was.

Anyway, one thing for sure, none should be giving her and Hiccup a hard time escaping. Despite knowing how to fight and as before the Hunters weren't that hard to defeat if not that many. As busy as they were, they shouldn't be able to surround the two riders.

Spotting the small boat was rather hard because of the rain, and Heather cussed out how much better it would have been to be able to fly on a dragon. But then again, would it? The wind was strong enough to send them sprawling against deck, and she could see the gritted teeth Hiccup had, trying to get his feet still against the floor even more with that improvised peg leg of his. A dragon would never be able to fly through this.

But getting on that little boat was just as deadly...

But did they really have a choice?

Yep, it would be much better than Viggo getting his hands on them. Heather had the feeling the man was done playing, and this time, there would be realer repercussions.

Nope, she did not want to know what those would be. Boat it is.

"Hey!" _Rats._ A Hunter suddenly spotted them, pointing in their direction, "You're not supposed to be there! Go back to your cell!"

"We aren't?" The young Night Fury rider asked, "I had no idea. See, I told you we weren't supposed to break out, Heather. Do you ever listen?" Hiccup rolled his eyes, deadpanning in her direction. She saw right though it. _Get it ready._

Then, in a flash of lightning, he had snitched her sword, leaving his dagger in her hand, and bolted off towards the approaching Hunters.

After a brief moment of shock, Heather set off to work, frantically untying the knots on the rope holding the boat as fast as her painfully broken fingers allowed her. No. Faster. She stole a glance in Hiccup's direction, watching his back turned to her, offering her a clearing. For one thing that blasted storm was good, it kept a part of the hunters at bay, as they had to steer the boat and make sure it didn't turn but still...

Hiccup was surprisingly good with the sword, and she realized he was stronger than she gave him credit for given his scrawny appearance. He was also light on his feet, no, foot. And smart. He was faster than the hunters and able to use any disadvantage of his to his own interest. When the boat lurched, and he lost his balance, he used that to attack the enemy from different

, unexpected directions. When _the hunters_ lost their balance though, it was even better.

 _Swoosh._ She suddenly turned, ducking. A beefy arm flew over her head, along with a probably important to mention axe. She snatched her dagger, returning the attack. The Hunter probably hadn't expected her to react that quickly, for he seemed at a loss of what was happening before he was back in the game. After a minute or two, though, he was lying on deck and Heather pushed her drenched hair back from her face, cutting off the last knot.

"Hiccup!-" That's when she turned to the boy, intending to call him over. A hand suddenly closed in around her mouth, and she brought her hands up to pry it away, accidentally letting the dagger fall to the wooden deck. But her fingers cracked as she applied force on the enemy hand and quickly, she had been subdued, two Hunters, each holding an arm of hers, keeping her from escaping.

"Le- gffo ff mhh!" She tried, fighting off the two brutus, but to no avail.

And then all hope she had was crunched like a little bug in the wrong place at the wrong time. She watched helplessly as Hiccup slipped, his sword clattering on the ground, but still managed to knock the last of the Hunters surrounding him out. Then, he turned, his fist closed and heading towards the presence he'd felt behind him when a beefy, iron-like hand caught his own.

She struggled harder.

"Ryk-?" Hiccup had that much to utter, before he was crying out, caught by surprise as the Second in Command of the Dragon Hunters crushed his fist, and twisted his wrist backwards.

Ryker smiled, a sickning sight really, "Wha- ye really though' I'd le' ye leave? Or le' Viggo have all the fun?"

Hiccup spat at the man.

She blinked. He actually spat.

Sounds like something _she_ would have very much liked to do.

Only these thoughts were interrupted as Ryker growled, grabbing Hiccup's colar and slamming him- _literally slamming_ \- on the floor.

"Don' do tha'" The disgusting man growled, waving a finger above Hiccup's face.

And to her bewilderment, sweet, passifist, little Hiccup must have been gone, because he bit- really bit- the Hunter's finger- hard. (She would have clapped hadn't she been being held by two soldiers and had the situation been any lighter.) Ryker yowled, before letting out another growl ( seriously, the guy has issues!) and repeating on slamming the young rider violently against the floor.

Only he wasn't stopping. He just kept on going.

Heather screamed, enraged on how they had covered her mouth, but not her eyes. It would have been better than watching that. She kicked, too trying to bite the hand off her mouth, but to no avail. Her legs were high up in the air, kicking the raging winds. More thunder filled the scene as she struggled to out the enemies' grip like a wet fish trying fall out of the fisher's hand and back out into the sea.

Eventually, she realised with horror that her companion no longer even struggled, and when Rykers anger assesment finally skidded to a hault, she realised he _no longer even moved at all._

 _Odindammit. Astrid's going to kill me._

But that was the last she thought about it, as the image of Ryker cracking his neck, standing over Hiccup's drenched, limp form behind the curtain of rain vanished from view, and she was dragged under deck.

 _Ryker._

 _What was Ryker doing there this time._

 _No._

 _Why did Ryker have to be there this time?_

She let out a muffled enraged yell. Their escape had been the biggest failure, because Ryker had to be there.

Escaping wouldn't be coming any easier now, and Hiccup...

She closed her eyes. There would be no escaping after that, Ryker would make sure of it.

They were hopeless now.

 **oOo**

 **Whhaaaa-hahA- what? So, I'm so sorry for that,** **( I'm not, really, at all)**

 ***laughs nervously* I'll try to be quick on the next update, now that classes are over.**

 ***trips while making a run for the exit* haha, byee! Remember I love you all very much please!**


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